GE Announces the Successful Completion of ELPEDISON’s Thessaloniki Power Plant Modernization in Greece
Amidst pandemic, GE completed a significant modernization project of ELPEDISON’s Thessaloniki Power Plant, including upgrades on a 9F gas turbine, a Franco Tosi-supplied steam turbine and digital solutions, safely and successfully GE’s total plant solutions helped increase the power generation of the plant by over 20 megawatts and reduced startup costs by approximately 10 percent Project supports Greece’s plans for the country’s transition towards lower carbon power generation
BADEN: GE (NYSE: GE) today announced that the modernization of ELPEDISON S.A.’s Thessaloniki Power Plant in Greece was completed safely and successfully. GE upgraded ELPEDISON’s power generation assets, consisting of a GE 9F.03 gas turbine and a Franco Tosi-supplied steam turbine, and installed digital solutions to help increase the plant’s output by over 20 megawatts, equal to powering 17,000 Greek households, and reduce its start-up costs by 10 percent. An additional important achievement is the increased efficiency of the power plant with decreased fuel consumption and emissions. The project supports Greece’s plans for transition towards lower carbon power generation and highlights GE’s commitment to supporting power plant operators in their energy transition efforts to increase electricity production capacity with more efficient gas technologies.
“A number of factors drive the growth of the energy sector of Greece; primarily, the required improvement of the energy mix, the liberalization of the electricity and natural gas markets as well as the efforts to improve energy efficiency and reduce the costs and infrastructure development,” said Silvio Jean, Director of ELPEDISON Power Generation. “As the first independent energy producer in Greece, it is important for us to increase our competitiveness in the power segment by extending the life of our plants and providing the best service to our users. By using the latest GE technology, we will also significantly lower emissions, by improving our heat rate by almost 2 percent and lower our minimum load, reducing our cost’s structure and providing value to the environment and to our clients.”
GE showcased its total plant solutions by installing its DLN 2.6+ combustor system, its OpFlex software solution and its Advanced Gas Path (AGP) technology on its 9F gas turbine. In addition, GE increased the agility on the plant’s Franco Tosi steam turbine with a replacement of its HP/IP rotor with a new configuration supporting an operating profile in line with the new energy needs. These engineering enhancements will reduce the impact of degradation that naturally occurs with time on the rotor components and improve their lifespan. This work highlights GE’s commitment to serving other equipment manufacturer units and servicing them as if they were original GE parts.
In addition, the project included GE Digital’s Operations Performance Management (OPM) software solution. Enabled by secure edge-to-cloud technology, OPM will analyze Thessaloniki’s plant historical performance and operations to monitor and diagnose possible issues, improve capacity planning, and drive improved efficiency, flexibility, capacity and emissions.
“Greece’s recovery plan proposes investments and reforms that support climate objectives providing an opportunity to progress with longer-term emissions reduction. Pursuing initiatives that support sustainable increases in efficiency and increasing the share of natural gas and renewable energy in the energy mix would contribute to the country’s energy transition goals” said Steven Miller, Services Leader for GE Gas Power Europe. “With this project, the Thessaloniki Power Plant will see an increase in power output and flexibility, improved efficiency, extended asset lifetime as well as significant savings on fuel costs in line with the energy sector reform that Greece is currently implementing.”
The project was completed during a gas turbine major overhaul by FieldCore, the field services execution team owned by GE. As the COVID-19 pandemic was unfolding, engineers from GE and FieldCore worked together and in close co-operation with ELPEDISON experts to quickly implement an array of safety measures, monitor the rapidly evolving situation and to ensure safe execution in compliance with local, national and company regulations.
“We are pleased to have completed this important modernization safely and successfully to help ELPEDISON support the country’s plans for the transition towards lower carbon power generation,” closed Steven Miller.
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